by Naomi | Jun 19, 2015 | Tools & Apps
Object: Understanding how my time is spent, to gain a big picture view (and if needed, adjust) my work-habits.
What Didn’t Work: Trying to put things on the calendar and stick to strict pre-determined time slots. Hopping from one project to another in response to whatever pinged at the moment. Simply hoping I was getting to all of my projects. Only vaguely being able to answer the question: so how long did it take to… (fill in the blank)?
My Aha! Moment: I was listening to Amy Porterfield’s podcast (
Episode 47). In this interesting interview about mindset she interviewed Todd Herman. Todd suggested keeping a chart of $10 work, $100 work, and $1000 work for a week. The challenge was to notice each task you did and record it into one of those columns. I loved the idea of the activity, but wasn’t yet in the place where I could afford to outsource anything. Outsourcing is the ultimate goal of the activity— acknowledging that when you’re the content-maker, creating your content is your greatest contribution, and that perhaps you oughtn’t to be coding HTML so your website works.
I remember thinking, “But I don’t even know which projects I’m spending my time on, let alone the amount of money I’d someday be able to pay someone to do the tasks!” For me, the first problem to tackle was “which project does this task fit into?” I needed to better understand where my hours were going before I could determine where any time-leaks might be. Maybe I was spending 20 hours a week on a project, but on all of the wrong parts of the project. Or maybe I was ignoring certain projects for too long, only returning to them after they had turned into raging problem-fires. I needed a way to track my time.
Enter the
Timely app, a very nice-to-look-at visual time-tracking tool.
- I’ve connected the Timely app with my main calendar, so the app knows what I’m supposed to spend my time on.
- I can create a new task with just a couple easy clicks on my phone or desktop, and start a timer or enter time spent manually.
- I use big categories, such as “admin” or “planning,” and sometimes add a few notes. The main thing for me is to see what I’m doing in broad strokes.
Player’s Notes:
- If my day gets busy and I forget to record some time spent, I record estimates at the end of the day, when I still remember.
- Timely has saved me so much time going back and trying to remember, particularly with invoices. Often, scheduling and hourly billing shifts due to various factors, so having a day-by-day record what actually happened is very helpful.
Take it to the Next Level:
- Review how your time was spent every couple weeks with the Timely reports. Are there trends that point to problems? If so, how can you turn that problem into a question, for which you can then seek a solution?
by Naomi | Aug 18, 2014 | Creative Life
Writing isn’t like most other art forms. While one might apprentice with a painter by observing the artist at work, cleaning brushes and gathering habits and strategies to try, watching a writer at work would not likely bring about such clarity. So much of the writing process happens between our ears, not out there in the tangible, real world.
Also, while writers do create processes for their work, these systems tend to change per book. And no writer could prescribe a system for another that would fit perfectly in a one-size-fits-all way.
Thus, when a master writer takes on the challenge of sharing their process on the page, I’m always appreciative. This turning one’s mind inside out and putting into words what is largely invisible is no small feat. Reading such accounts does the most fantastic thing for my writer-self. Books such as this make me feel a part of a community of like-minded people. I feel seen. The strategies and habits and thoughts shared by the writer give me a starting point for doing my own thinking. How is my process like this other writer’s process? How is it different?
Robert Benson’s Dancing on the Head of a Pen was an excellent read for these reasons. Benson blended introspection with stories from his experience as well as practical strategies. Once I finished the book, I wanted to re-read again more slowly, journal in hand, to start up a writerly conversation with the ideas I encountered on the page. After reading this book, I feel empowered to think more about my process, to revise the way I approach my writerly life, and to commit again, and more deeply to working on my craft.
One of my favorite parts of the book was when Benson addresses the three hats he wears, his beret, his New York Yankees gamer and his fedora. He equates these hats to the three roles he plays: freewheeling artist wearing his beret, hard-working revisionist with commitment wearing his gamer, and businessman wearing his fedora. Throughout the book, Benson makes the variety of tasks writers must wrestle visible in just this way.
For writers who need a boost of inspiration or some perspective on their writing life, this book is well worth the read.
I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review.
by Naomi | Jul 15, 2014 | Creative Life
I just read a post by Michael Hyatt about the way that balance feels. You should read it, too.
Michael wrote that when one is balancing on a rope, one doesn’t feel balanced. Instead, one is constantly noticing what is off-balance and adjusting. When I read his words, my stomach did that strange swoop thing it does when I’m walking on any narrow object. Yes, I thought. Absolutely. No wonder the very people who intentionally seek balance always feel off-course. The only way to stay balanced to be aware of what’s out of balance. I’ve written frequently about finding balance through adjusting expectations. When we have a realistic picture of our lives, grounded in the facts of our given circumstances, only then can we make needed adjustments.
Last weekend, I spent time with alumni from Hamline’s MFA program. The question came up: How do writers find a work-life balance? For writers, finding balance is particularly hard. We are passionate about sitting down at the page and setting down words. We must do this for our mental and spiritual health. Yet, writing is such a quiet, personal thing, that it can appear like doing nothing. Sometimes the people in our life point this fact out, asking us to drive them to the airport or help pack for a move instead. For me, though, the biggest obstacle is myself. Daily, I struggle to remember that my writing is important, that it matters, and that giving myself the time to write isn’t selfish. I’m giving myself time to be me. Wouldn’t I passionately defend such time for anyone else?
So, here is the reality. We aren’t finding balance. We are actively balancing. It’s a verb, not a noun, and one one that evokes a visceral, gut-level sensation. Balancing isn’t a warm glow the way happiness is–That’s where we run into trouble. We expect balance to feel soft and airy, the way one might feel after an intense yoga session. Balance is a jolt, a shock of electricity, an instinctual reaction built into our DNA. We may long for balance that feels calm and settled, but instead, we must adjust our expectations. Balance is aware of itself. It is an ongoing, active process, full of experimentation, strategy and practice.
What if instead of asking, “How do I find a work-life balance?” we asked, “Where am I leaning too heavily? What adjustments might I make to right myself today?” The more specific the answers, I think, the better. No need to be overly ambitious about fixing one’s whole life. Tomorrow, we may be out of balance in a completely other way. This task is one that can’t be checked off the to-do list. We must engage in balance every day.
Balance is individual, but in the same way that stories deal in specifics, the particulars of others’ solutions can clear our own murky waters. So, what are you doing today to adjust and find balance? I’d love to hear your thoughts below.
photo credit: Jeff Pang via photopin cc
by Naomi | Aug 22, 2013 | Creative Life
It’s time for a new blog series, one I’ve been planning for quite some time.
I hear it all the time in conversations, and the same longing echoes in my own heart. I want balance. I want a joy-filled life. I want to do meaningful work, to help others, to be creative, to be healthy, to have time for friends and family, to have fun time, and on and on the list goes. I don’t want to answer every “How are you?” with “Ugh. Too busy.” I especially don’t want to answer every “How’s your writing?” with an “I just never seem to have time.”
When I work with writers, young and young at heart, I hear the same story. “I want to have time for writing, but…”
Just bypassing the creative block isn’t enough. Or maybe it’s just that it’s not the start. I think the starting place is wrangling one’s life. Now, I have to tell you, working on this project has been a ten-year, maybe more, project for me. Thus, I’m not about to tell you that I’ve stumbled across some simple magic fix for balancing one’s life. Balance isn’t simple. Yet, I have spent hours and hours of trial and error, and while my life still isn’t perfectly balanced, I’ve learned some important lessons.
1. It never WILL be balanced. There’s an ebb and flow.
2. Throwing in the towel and just going with the ebb and flow isn’t the entire answer. That approach leads to either a blocked or lazy or overwhelmed life.
3. One needs a system, but it has to be loose enough to actually work with the ebb and flow. And the system absolutely can’t lead to guilt, or you’re back to the blocked, lazy or overwhelmed life.
So, what do you do when you need a system and you also need to flow? A kindergarten teacher would say you need color-coded buckets. While what’s in the bucket might still be chaotic, when you can train the kids to put their toys away at the end of play-time, there’s always that moment at the end of the day when everything is back in it’s place, where the class can take a collective breath. Then, the next day, fresh decisions can be made, new games can be invented, and everyone trusts that at the end of theday, everything will find the way back into the buckets. A spectacular mess simply can’t be made when you’re afraid it can’t be dealt with later.
It’s a simple concept, and at first glance, it may seem too simple. But why not try it out with me and see what you discover? Here’s what we’ll explore in the next few posts. I’ll tell you my story and share the exercises that worked for me… try mine, or let them inspire ideas of your own.
Part One: What buckets do I need? How do I even start sorting with the giant mess I’ve got?
Part Two: Fine. I’ve got buckets now. How do I keep track in the ebb and flow?
Part Three: Technology please? There’s got to be an app for that.
Part Four: What happens when days go by and I’ve totally lost sight of the buckets?
Part Five: Umm… I have all this creative energy now. What’s next?
Ready to dive in? Look for Part One over the next few days.
Object: Understanding how my time is spent, to gain a big picture view (and if needed, adjust) my work-habits.